Cat owner issues snare warning

3 July 2009

A CAT owner in Driffield is warning about the dangers of snares after her much loved pet returned home with one of the potentially lethal traps around its body.

The cat owner, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her other two cats, said she was shocked to see her 14-year old domestic male cat return home on Friday night with a wire snare caught around his middle.

The owner, who lives on Scarborough Road, said: “It was pulled tight around his belly to the point where it could have cut him.”

Luckily the cat escaped the encounter unharmed but its owner now fears other people’s pets could become trapped in snares, especially as she fears they are being set on land close to a residential area.

“I would appeal to whoever is using them to be aware that it’s not just wild animals who can get caught in snares but domestic animals as well,” she said.

“I want other people to be aware that if their pet goes missing it too could have been caught in one,” she added.

Sgt Dave Jenkins, of the Driffield Neighbourhood Policing Team, said reports of domestic pets being caught up in snares are very rare but advised any residents with concerns about the use of snares to contact the RSPCA.

While most types of snares used in the UK are legal they are regulated under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The use of self-locking snares, the setting of any type of snare in places where they are likely to catch badgers, failure to inspect snares on a daily basis, and setting snares on land without permission, are all offences.

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NASC

The National Anti Snaring Campaign is the UK’s leading animal welfare organisation campaigning against the sale and manufacture of animal snares. We also aim to increase public awareness of the cruelty of snares.